Someone's gonna have to explain to me (and Antonetti) how the team could potentially keep two guys on the roster who can't play the field.

So much depends on what else they do but I don't see Thome and Hafner as two different players in terms of flexibility. They are basically one player. You'd be paying your DH $15m or so but it would be in the form of two people.

That gets to Swerb's point about roster flexibility I know. But if Jason Donald is the super-utility guy that eliminates one extra spot because he could play all infield positions as opposed to having a uif middle inf and a uif corner IF.

I can see from a production/security standpoint why they'd do it. But I can see why people don't think having two half-broken down DH's equates to one productive DH. That said, Thome isn't the problem so much as Hafner is.

Someone's gonna have to explain to me (and Antonetti) how the team could potentially keep two guys on the roster who can't play the field.

So much depends on what else they do but I don't see Thome and Hafner as two different players in terms of flexibility. They are basically one player. You'd be paying your DH $15m or so but it would be in the form of two people.

That gets to Swerb's point about roster flexibility I know. But if Jason Donald is the super-utility guy that eliminates one extra spot because he could play all infield positions as opposed to having a uif middle inf and a uif corner IF.

I can see from a production/security standpoint why they'd do it. But I can see why people don't think having two half-broken down DH's equates to one productive DH. That said, Thome isn't the problem so much as Hafner is.

This.

This makes me think illogically. Indeed the idea of two DH's that can't play the field make no sense. Knowing that Hafner is going to break down almost makes one roll their eyes and say what the heck.

Only way I could see it work would be if they could trade Hafner for someone else's bad contract at a different position. Heck, they hate Lackey so much in Boston, I wonder if they'd kick in some of the diff. in salaries & take on Hafner as an expensive pinch hitter. Who knows, outside of Boston, maybe Lackey can bounce back -- wouldn't that boost Tribe's rotation?

What's the problem? Thome's average wasn't pretty but his OPS was over 800. I'd hate to see him completely lose it next year like Swerb said, but are we really doing to do much better with $3M of free agent money?

And please don't consider Hafner's $13M in this debate, it's a sunk cost barring a trade (where we'd likely have to pick up most of the tab). Losing another roster spot would suck but you're making a giant assumption that Hafner stays healthy. Plus they can always get one back by keeping LaStrikeout in Columbus, making Santana the starting 1B, and signing a decent hitting catcher (with Santana as the backup).

Last edited by Kingpin74 on Sat Oct 01, 2011 8:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.

"Well then I guess there's only one thing left to do...win the whole, f***in', thing."- Jake Taylor

Kingpin74 wrote:What's the problem? Thome's average wasn't pretty but his OPS was over 800. I'd hate to see him completely lose it next year like Swerb said, but are we really doing to do much better with $3M of free agent money?

And please don't consider Hafner's $13M in this debate, it's a sunk cost barring a trade (where we'd likely have to pick up most of the tab). The only legitimate issues are Thome's would-be production and the roster spot.

You're right. But that is exactly THE problem. But, you say it like it's a minor consideration.

I don't see how in the world they can justify another roster spot for another DH who we HOPE can approach something close to average.

Kingpin74 wrote:What's the problem? Thome's average wasn't pretty but his OPS was over 800. I'd hate to see him completely lose it next year like Swerb said, but are we really doing to do much better with $3M of free agent money?

And please don't consider Hafner's $13M in this debate, it's a sunk cost barring a trade (where we'd likely have to pick up most of the tab). The only legitimate issues are Thome's would-be production and the roster spot.

You're right. But that is exactly THE problem. But, you say it like it's a minor consideration.

I don't see how in the world they can justify another roster spot for another DH who we HOPE can approach something close to average.

I suppose, but I just look at the holes we still have and how expensive the free agent market usually is. I don't see how we would do much better with a relatively small one year salary like Thome's. And like a previous poster said, I think we have the utility guys to absorb the loss of a spot.

"Well then I guess there's only one thing left to do...win the whole, f***in', thing."- Jake Taylor

IMO a DH platoon of Thome/Hafner/Duncan would be perfect. Thome/Hafner play every other game against righties and Duncan plays against lefties. Then we would just have a bench of Jolbert Cabrera to fill in at every position in the field.

I think it was great he made a return this year, but I think if he is still in an Indians uniform next year, hopefully it is one of a hitting coach. I think Hafner if fit will do nicely in the DH roll in 2012.

Galley Boys are slop on top of a so-so burger and a bun you coulde get from a Covneninet food mart generic pack. They the Antoine Joubert of burgers; soft, sloppy, oozing grease and cheap sauce and extremely overrated by a biased fan base. Proof that if you throw enough cheap sauce shit on a burger you still can't overcome the lame burger. -JB

I believe Howard's supposed to miss the beginning of the season. I know he can't play first, but that should at least give him ample pinch-hitting opportunities. And by the time Howard comes back, it should be about time for Hafner to go down ... hmm, this could work.